Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Lawsuit: Famed Jesuit Abused Boy 1,000 Times Around World
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
December 31, 2019

Share

CHICAGO — A globe-trotting Jesuit priest with ties to Mother Teresa sexually abused an American boy “more than 1,000 times, in multiple states and countries,” a lawsuit filed Monday in California state court in San Francisco alleges.

In the lawsuit and in interviews with The Associated Press, Robert J. Goldberg, now 61, describes years of psychological control and sexual abuse he suffered from age 11 into adulthood while working as a valet for the late Rev. Donald J. McGuire.
In the lawsuit and in interviews with The Associated Press, Robert J. Goldberg, now 61, describes years of psychological control and sexual abuse he suffered from age 11 into adulthood while working as a valet for the late Rev. Donald J. McGuire.
McGuire died in federal prison in 2017 while serving a 25-year sentence for molesting other boys who came under his sway.
Goldberg says he remained in the Jesuit’s thrall for nearly 40 years, even volunteering to testify in McGuire’s defense during criminal trials in Wisconsin and Illinois.
The lawsuit filed Monday doesn’t currently name the defendants, but Goldberg’s attorneys say the defendants will include the Jesuit order in the U.S. and the order’s top leader at the Vatican. At the time of the abuse against Goldberg, the suit alleges, Catholic officials knew that McGuire had been repeatedly accused of sexually abusing boys and went to great lengths to cover up his crimes.
In the nearly two decades since the U.S. Catholic abuse scandal erupted, thousands of survivors have stepped forward to tell painful stories. Hundreds more revealed their abuse in lawsuits earlier this year, when the state of New York opened a one-year window that allows survivors to file child sex abuse lawsuits without regard to the statute of limitations. And hundreds more, like Goldberg, are expected to take advantage of a similar window that opens Jan. 1 in California.
Photo of Bobby Goldberg and his family
In this Friday, Dec. 20, 2019 photo, Tyrone Cefalu, right, Bobby Goldberg, left, and his sister Debbie Goldberg pose for a photo in front of Bobby Goldberg’s home in suburban Chicago. Bobby Goldberg has filed a lawsuit claiming he was abused more than 1,000 times in multiple states and countries by the late Donald McGuire, a prominent American Jesuit priest who had close ties to Mother Teresa. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Goldberg Was 11 When He Met McGuire in 1970

But many victims still suffer in silence, often taking decades to step forward, if they ever do. Advocates say that abusive priests, as representatives of God, exert powerful control over the children they target, especially when they are helping the children and their families overcome poverty or other obstacles.

“He was very controlling. I had no say whatsoever. Whatever he told my mother he wanted me to do, I had to do it.” — Robert J. Goldberg
Goldberg was 11 when he met McGuire in 1970, one day when he and his sister were sitting on a curb outside a Chicago tavern, waiting for their mother to come out.
McGuire gave the family a ride home and ingratiated himself with Goldberg’s mother, persuading her that her son would be better off living under his supervision, according to the lawsuit.
During this time, the suit says, Goldberg would spend evenings at McGuire’s living quarters or would return to the family’s home with McGuire, who would sleep with him in his bed. Meanwhile, Goldberg’s mother came to rely on the funds that McGuire paid Goldberg for working as his assistant, $300 to $500 a week.
“He was very controlling. I had no say whatsoever,” Goldberg told the AP. “Whatever he told my mother he wanted me to do, I had to do it.”
Goldberg and his family followed along in 1976 when McGuire moved to California to take a teaching job at the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit school, and promote a roving ministry in which he presided over religious retreats for wealthy Catholics, collecting large donations along the way.
It was during this time that McGuire forged ties with the future saint, Mother Teresa, becoming her spiritual adviser while vetting nuns seeking to join the religious order she founded, the Missionaries of Charity.
Goldberg said his feelings about McGuire began to change after hearing victims testify at his criminal trial in Chicago, where Goldberg was scheduled to testify on McGuire’s behalf.

The Complaints Continued but He Remained a Priest

He wasn’t called to the stand to testify but came away feeling, he said, that McGuire had “no remorse” for what he’d done to Goldberg and other victims.
Concerns about McGuire started as far back as the early 1960s, when he was living in Europe and church officials in Germany and Austria sent alarming reports about his relations with young boys.
The complaints continued but he remained a priest in good standing for 40 years. In 1994, Mother Teresa wrote a letter of support to the Jesuit order to express her “confidence and trust” in McGuire. She said she believed allegations against McGuire were untrue.
McGuire wasn’t removed from active ministry until 2007. He was defrocked in 2008.
Officials in the Jesuits’ Midwest Province could not be reached for comment on Monday’s lawsuit, which was filed by a national law firm with expertise in clergy abuse litigation, Jeff Anderson & Associates.
In 2012, the Chicago Jesuit official who received Mother Teresa’s letter, the Rev. Bradley M. Schaeffer, issued a statement apologizing for failing to rein McGuire in. “I deeply regret that my actions were not enough to prevent him from engaging in these horrific crimes,’’ he said.
Last year, when the Midwest Jesuits released a list naming 65 accused Jesuits, including McGuire, Provincial Brian G. Paulson issued a similar apology. “We are painfully aware that in earlier decades, some Midwest Jesuits were not removed from ministry quickly enough,” he said. “We are deeply sorrowful.”
[activecampaign form=29]

DON'T MISS

Merced Police Chief: Local Sexual Assault Exams ‘Worth’ Higher Cost

DON'T MISS

Anjelah Johnson-Reyes to Headline Chukchansi’s Summer Series with ‘Family Reunion Tour’

DON'T MISS

Sue or Hold Back? The University of California Does Both as It Faces Trump’s Wrath

DON'T MISS

Central Unified Takes Additional Steps To Protect Undocumented Students

DON'T MISS

Americans Trade Michelin Stars for Mac and Cheese

DON'T MISS

Dueling Protests Clash at Fresno Tesla Dealership

DON'T MISS

Hamas Says It Accepts New Gaza Ceasefire Proposal but Israel Makes Counter-Offer

DON'T MISS

Andrew Tate’s Ex-Girlfriend Accuses Him of Sexual Assault and Battery in New Lawsuit

DON'T MISS

Protesters Rebelling Against Elon Musk’s Purge of US Government Swarm Tesla Showrooms

DON'T MISS

Plastics Are Seeping Into Farm Fields, Food and Eventually Human Bodies

UP NEXT

Top Vaccine Official Resigns From FDA, Criticizes RFK Jr. for Promoting Misinformation, Lies

UP NEXT

Trump Pledges US Aid for Asia Quake Despite Former Official Saying System in ‘Shambles’

UP NEXT

Israel Strikes Beirut for the First Time Since a Ceasefire Ended the Latest Israel-Hezbollah War

UP NEXT

Utah Becomes the First State to Ban Fluoride in Public Drinking Water

UP NEXT

At Least 20 Dead in Myanmar After Strong Earthquake

UP NEXT

Wilmer Flores’ 3-Run Homer in the 9th Inning Propels Giants to Victory Over Reds

UP NEXT

Germany and France Say Europe Must Respond to Trump’s Auto Tariffs

UP NEXT

Gaza Residents Demand End to 18 Years of Hamas Rule

UP NEXT

Democrats’ Popularity Plummets, yet Midterm Prospects Remain Strong

UP NEXT

USDA Explores Why US Egg Shortage Contrasts with Canada’s Abundant Supply

Central Unified Takes Additional Steps To Protect Undocumented Students

20 hours ago

Americans Trade Michelin Stars for Mac and Cheese

21 hours ago

Dueling Protests Clash at Fresno Tesla Dealership

1 day ago

Hamas Says It Accepts New Gaza Ceasefire Proposal but Israel Makes Counter-Offer

2 days ago

Andrew Tate’s Ex-Girlfriend Accuses Him of Sexual Assault and Battery in New Lawsuit

2 days ago

Protesters Rebelling Against Elon Musk’s Purge of US Government Swarm Tesla Showrooms

2 days ago

Plastics Are Seeping Into Farm Fields, Food and Eventually Human Bodies

2 days ago

Myanmar’s Earthquake Death Toll Jumps to 1,644 as More Bodies Are Recovered From the Rubble

2 days ago

Top Vaccine Official Resigns From FDA, Criticizes RFK Jr. for Promoting Misinformation, Lies

2 days ago

If You Want to Ski Affordably Next Season, Buy Now

2 days ago

Merced Police Chief: Local Sexual Assault Exams ‘Worth’ Higher Cost

Last year, The Merced FOCUS reported that for the first time in over a decade, a crucial service for survivors of sexual assault would be of...

19 hours ago

19 hours ago

Merced Police Chief: Local Sexual Assault Exams ‘Worth’ Higher Cost

19 hours ago

Anjelah Johnson-Reyes to Headline Chukchansi’s Summer Series with ‘Family Reunion Tour’

20 hours ago

Sue or Hold Back? The University of California Does Both as It Faces Trump’s Wrath

20 hours ago

Central Unified Takes Additional Steps To Protect Undocumented Students

21 hours ago

Americans Trade Michelin Stars for Mac and Cheese

1 day ago

Dueling Protests Clash at Fresno Tesla Dealership

2 days ago

Hamas Says It Accepts New Gaza Ceasefire Proposal but Israel Makes Counter-Offer

2 days ago

Andrew Tate’s Ex-Girlfriend Accuses Him of Sexual Assault and Battery in New Lawsuit

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend